Holder for telephone directories and the like



May 5, 1959 AIR. MISKIN 2,885,038

' HOLDER FOR TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES AND THE LIKE Filed April 7, 195aflrthur Rjliskin,

ATTORNEY INVENTOR United States Patent HOLDER FOR TELEPHONE DIRECTORIESAND THE LIKE Arthur R. Miskin, Ucon, Idaho Application April 7, 1958,Serial No. 726,746

4 Claims. (Cl. 211-87) This invention relates to racks or holders forbooks and the like, and has for its principal object the provision of asimple, relatively inexpensive device of this character for receiving,holding and protecting frequently used books, such for example astelephone directories, while maintaining them readily available for usewhen necessary.

For purposes of disclosure two exemplary forms of the device have beenillustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part of thisspecification, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the basic unit, adapted for use incommunities where the directories are supplied in a single volume;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in horizontal section, of the device shownin Fig. l, on approximately the line 2-2 in said figure;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and elevational view of the unit;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of an adaptation of the device for use wherethe directories are furnished in two or more volumes, or where it isdesired to maintain the directories of two or more communities; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the supplemental units employedin an assembly such as shown in Fig. 4.

As will be readily understood from the said drawing, the unit Aillustrated in Figs. l-3 comprises a pair of horizontally spacedvertical members 10, here shown as formed of strap-iron or similarmetal, and rigidly connected by the upper and lower horizontal bars orstrips 11 and 12 which are welded or otherwise firmly secured to thesaid upright members. Each upright member is bent to substantiallyU-shape (when viewed in side elevation) whereby to provide a rearwardleg 13 and a forward leg 14 which legs are connected to their lower endsby the cross-bar portion 15. The upper portion of the rearward leg 13 isbent to provide an ofiset 16 whereby, when the device is mounted on awall, desk panel or other support S, the lower portions of the legs 13will occupy a forwardly inclining position relative to the supportsurface, as shown in Fig. 3.

The forward legs 14 of the members are preferably disposed in somewhatupwardly-diverging relation to the rearward legs 13 and the upper endportions of said forward legs are curved to provide an eye 17. Ahorizontal member 18 of elongated rectangular shape and here shown asformed from a metal rod or wire, has its rearward and forward elements18a and 18b welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the legs 13 and 14respectively of the members 10 substantially as shown. The respectiveend portions of the member 18 extend laterally beyond the uprights 10,and when a directory or other book 19 is disposed in the pocket Pprovided by the said wire member and the portions 13, 14 and of theupright members (as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 3), the saidmember 18 will prevent lateral displacement of the volume from suchpocket.

The divergent relationship of the legs 13 and 14 of the uprights 10enables the books to be readily deposited in and withdrawn from theholder, while the forward inclination of the legs 13 relative to thesupport S, provided by the offsets 16, insures spacing of the upperportion of the book from the support so that it may be readily graspedfor withdrawal.

Where directories are furnished in two or more volumes, or where thedirectories of a plurality of communities are in use, supplemental unitssuch as B and C (Fig. 4) may be added to the basic unit above described,for holding such additional books. The construction of thesesupplemental units is in general similar to that of the units A exceptthat, as will be clear from Fig. 5, the O-shaped member 18' is ofstrap-iron rather than wire; the transverse member 11 is attached to thelegs 13 below instead of above the offsets 16 and is itself providedwith a rearward oflfset; and the portions of said legs above saidoffsets 16 are curled to cylindrical form as indicated at 20. Thediameter of these curls is such as to enable them to be slidablyreceived in the eyes 17 of the forward legs 14 of the preceding unit,and when so assembled the offset portion of the member 11' will abut themedial portion of the member 18 and the succeeding unit be thus firmlysupported by the preceding unit. Unintentional displacement of the curls20 from their coacting eyes 17 may be prevented in any appropriatemanner, as for example by passing a pin or bolt through registeringapertures 21 and 22 provided in the abutting members 11' and 18.

As indicated by the units B and C shown in Fig. 4, the units may be madein various widths to accommodate books of dilferent thicknesses; and ifdesired a unit B or C may be employed as a basic unit and secured to thesupport by means of a nail or other fastening passed through theaperture 21 in its member 11. Other variations in the precise details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled inthe art without departing from the gist of the invention and it is notwished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be requiredby the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A rack for holding telephone directories and the like, said rackbeing adapted for mounting on a vertical support and comprising a pairof upright members and means rigidly connecting them in laterally spacedrelation, such members being of generally U-shaped conformationproviding a rearward leg disposable adjacent the support and a forwardleg spaced outwardly therefrom, the upper portions of said forward legsbeing curled to provide eyes constituting one element of a readilyattachable and detachable connection, and the upper portions of saidrearward legs also being curled to provide complemental elements of areadily attachable and detachable connection, said rearward legs beingfurther provided with ofisets arranged to dispose the lower portions ofsuch legs in an upwardly diverging relation to the face of the verticalsupport when the rack is mounted thereon.

2. A rack structure for holding telephone directories and the like, saidrack being adapted for mounting on a vertical support and comprising apair of upright members and means rigidly connecting them in laterallyspaced relation, such members being of generally U-shaped conformationproviding a rearward leg disposable adjacent the support and a forwardleg spaced outwardly therefrom, the upper portions of said rearward legsbeing provided with offsets disposing the lower portions of such legs inan upwardly diverging relation to the face of the vertical support whenthe rack is mounted thereon, and the upper portions of each forward legbeing provided with an element of a readily attachable and detachableconnection; and a second rack of similar construction, the rearward legsof which areprovided with comp1e mental connector elements engaged withthe connector A- A ree s o n? w r ie to c im 2 w er i the fir W11; is Pri d a sver memb sewed to its forward legs and the second rack isprovided with .a transverse rnernbpr secured to its rearward legs saidtrans er e wemb e be ts o dis sed 91. the Sp1Fi 4 p p p racks as to abutone another when racks are connected relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,221,659 Wilkie Nov. 12, 1940 2,488,326 Pratt Nov. 15, 1949 2,615,576Dahlgren Oct. 28, 1952 Nelson Aug. 5, 1958

